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U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN

Inbee Park One Stroke Back, Four Others Tied at 68
June 26, 2013
By Stuart Hall

Inbee Park, the world's top-ranked player, shot a 5-under 67 in the first round and trails compatriot Ha-Neul Kim by one stroke. (USGA/Darren Carroll)

SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. – Few were surprised to see Inbee Park's
67 sitting atop the U.S. Women's Open leader board for the better part of
Thursday's opening round. After all, she is the world's top-ranked player and
winner of the year's first two major championships.

But Ha-Neul Kim?

Near closing time on Thursday evening at Sebonack Golf Club,
Kim, ranked 44th and making her U.S. Women's Open debut, did Park one stroke
better. Kim shot a 6-under-par 66, the fourth-lowest opening round in
championship history.

"I was very nervous coming in, and I thought in the
practice round that the course was very difficult," said Kim, 24, of
Korea, through an interpreter. "Before playing today I thought that even
par would be a very good score for me."

All totaled, Sebonack yielded 36 rounds of even par or lower
on a day when the course's setup at 6,548 yards – 273 yards shorter than the
listed 6,821-yard maximum length –caught many in the field by surprise. USGA
officials anticipated heavier winds that never materialized.

Notables to take advantage of Sebonack's generosity were
U.S. Women's Open champions Paula Creamer, Cristie Kerr and Juli Inkster, who
is making a record 34th appearance, and Lydia Ko, the world's top-ranked
amateur. Each shot even-par 72. Also, Kyung Kim and Canadian Brooke Mackenzie
Henderson shot 71 and are the low amateurs.

Ha-Neul Kim was exempt into this year's U.S. Women Open as a
result of winning the 2012 Korean LPGA money title. She displayed why with a
six-birdie, bogey-free round that did not appear to fray her nerves.

"I had six birdies. They were all within tap-in range,
so I felt like my putting wasn't really tested, but my tee-to-green, I was very
good," said Kim, the 2007 KLPGA Rookie of the Year whose biggest win came
at the 2011 Hite Cup, which is a major on the Korean circuit.

While Ha-Neul Kim created the late buzz, 7-year-old
Sebonack, which sits hard on Great Peconic Bay, was the talk of the day.

Park, for example, stepped to her opening shot on Thursday
morning wary of the hole to her. With the teeing ground moved up 28 yards, she
had not viewed the hole from that vantage point during her practice rounds.

The yardage proved to be only a slight distraction as she
made birdie on the 359-yard, par-4 10th hole.

"I was able to take some pins where the USGA was a
little generous on us today," Park said. "A lot of tees were moved
up. So instead of hitting 5-irons, we were hitting 9-irons, and that was making
the course much easier. I was actually able to go for some pins and give myself
a lot of opportunities today. I made a lot of putts and didn't leave much out
there."

Park was not alone in being vexed by the distances.

"My caddie [Jonny Scott], I think, he had some
headaches today," said I.K. Kim. "He had to walk off from all the way
back [of the teeing grounds]. But for me, he gave me numbers where to hit it,
and that's all I did.

"But it was kind of surprising, because it wasn't like
one or two. Every hole was kind of moved forward. So you can't really think about where the
tees are different. But I think definitely shorter makes it easier on a few
holes, hitting irons to the green."

Stacy Lewis, the No. 2-ranked player in the world who opened
with a 71, hit two pitching wedges and a 9-iron into her first three greens and
knew immediately that Sebonack was receptive to low scores.

"It just played differently," said Lewis, who won
two consecutive tournaments earlier this year and held the world No. 1 ranking
for a four-week stretch before Park. "The greens were more receptive from
[the forward tees]. It was just a different course today."

While Sebonack may have been playing shorter, reigning
champion Na Yeon Choi was not of the belief that it was any easier. In fact,
Choi could have been playing neighboring National Golf Links of America for how
differently the Jack Nicklaus-Tom Doak design played.

"I think the course is pretty difficult, but today a
lot of the tee boxes moved up 30 or 40 yards like on many holes, so actually I
felt like it's just different holes," said Choi after a 1-under 71.
"Almost every hole was a different target, different aim. Then the wind was switching a lot out there,
so it wasn't easy for a club selection."

Echeverria, 28 and making her U.S. Women's Open debut, was
nonplussed by Sebonack's leniency.

"I'm not impressed about this course," she said.
"If you hit it good, you are in the right spot. You can use the slopes.

"For the way I hit the ball today, I don't mind if they
put it longer. I think that will benefit me."

Players should watch what they wish for.

After all, this remains the U.S. Women's Open.

Stuart
Hall is a North Carolina-based freelance writer whose work frequently appears
on USGA championship websites.